Sidroc the Dane Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jorild

Ingirith, Hrald's wife, is angry that Hrald, whom she has no love for, slept with another woman (and a serving girl) so close to their handfasting and hates Sidroc from the beginning. Ingirith sends Jorild away when Sidroc is a year old. Sidroc does not see his mother again, though she sees him before he leaves Jutland and chooses not to tell him of their relationship.

Answer: Toki calls Sidroc's mother a thrall

In the first book, "The Circle of Ceridwen", Sidroc says that Toki gave him the scar. That book was published in 1995; "Sidroc the Dane" was published in 2018. If you read the books as they were published, you had to wait 23 years to learn the story.

The two argue and fight over Gunnborga's affection earlier, which inspires Toki to bring a weapon next time they fight to overcome Sidroc's physical advantage. Toki is quite dishonorable: he insults Sidroc's mother, brings a knife to a fistfight, and scars his cousin for life.

Answer: False

On the contrary, she thinks it a gift. She says those who see his worth are those who know the difference between something that is gilded and real gold. His exterior may be unattractive, but he is honorable, considerate, and smart. Most women turn from his scarred face...until he meets Ceridwen, who sees it as a mark of bravery and does not fear it.

Answer: To let him sleep with a woman

Due to his appearance, Sidroc has trouble trying to bed a woman. His first time goes very well, and he shows his thoughtfulness by giving the woman a practical gift of needles. In Angle-land, Sidroc is appalled by the constant raping of women and never takes part, even chasing women to safety at least once. The same cannot be said of Toki.

Answer: Tyr

Tyr is the Norse god of justice and war; in mythology, he sacrifices his right hand to subdue the wolf Fenrir. Before leaving Jutland, Sidroc sacrifices to Tyr and declares himself Tyr's son. This is a serious oath that follows him throughout his life.

Answer: On a Danish ship taken by Yrling

Ever impatient, Toki buys a sword before raiding, though Yrling knows he can get one from the dead. After taking the Danish ship, Yrling gives the sword of the man he kills to Sidroc and the coins to Toki. Before this, Sidroc had a spear, which would have been much easier and cheaper to make than a sword, which required more metal and skill to create.

Answer: Dragon

Aki the tattooist has only two colors, blue (from copper and woad) and red (from red ochre), so he makes a blue dragon with red eyes. Ceridwen first sees this tattoo in "The Circle of Ceridwen" while treating Sidroc's side wound. In "The Hall of Tyr", Sidroc carves the combined sigels in the titular hall.

Answer: His ships are stolen.

During a raid inland, his ships are attacked; his original crew members are killed while those of the ship he commandeered join the attackers. In this new land, Saxons fight against the Danes, but the Danes fight against both the Saxons and each other.

Answer: She dies of fever.

Unlike her mother, who runs her own keep, collects rents, keeps everyone fed and clothed, and funds an army, Eadburh does nothing. Yrling marries her in part to run his hall, a duty she does not try to carry out. It is implied that her marriage to a stranger, her new home in which she is surrounded by warlike Danes who do not share her religion, and the sudden separation from her mother cause her to despair and lose the will to live, at which point a small fever takes her life.

Answer: Ceridwen as his wife

He wishes for Ceridwen to choose him as her husband, so he offers amber and silver to Freyja, as jewels adorn Freyja's hall in Folkvangr. In Norse mythology, Freyja has first choice of the warriors who die in battle; Odin takes the other half. Sidroc's wish is granted ten years later, after Ceridwen's first husband dies.